USS Alliance
USS Alliance was the third Constellation-class built, and the third angled deck carrier. Deployed mainly to the Atlantic and Mediterranean, she is the most decorated American warship of WW2. She assisted in the escort of Italian warships, where her fighters repelled German bombers. Deployed in the hunt for the Fredichdergroße, she was an integral part of destroying the German battleship. She was deployed to the Mediterranean again, to help in the destruction of German refineries in the Middle East. Attacked by aircraft from the Graf Zeppelin, and the Tegetthoff, at the Battle of Cyprus, she was heavily damaged, and forced to retreat. Temporary Repairs were made at Casablanca, before sailing for Norfolk. Repaired in Late 1948, she was deployed to the Pacific fleet, after she had been relieved by the Midway in the Atlantic. Deployed during the Second Battle of Leyte Gulf, she was again heavily damaged by aircraft from the Hakuryu after destroying the IJN Musashi, and IJN Sagami. During this time she was reported as sunk, but when she reappeared after repairs at Pearl, she was nicknamed "Yamata no Orchi" by the Japanese after an evil ancient mythical dragon. She set sail for the Solomons, but was redirected as word came that the Phillapeans were being bombed by the Japanese. Only escorted by a light escort destroyers, which were sunk almost immediately, F2Hs from Alliance single handed repelled Japanese Bombers, earning her the nickname of "Diwata" amongst the Phillapeans. During the summer of 1948, she continued with the push against the Japanese where she destroyed several small cruisers and destroyers. During Japanese Operation Kamigo, her torpedoes bombers assisted in the destruction of IJN Kongo, and IJN Kii. Later during the major Naval Battle of Okinawa, while fought almost entirely by Battleships, had air cover from Alliance. She had been repairing at Iwo Jima, by the USS Vestal, when word came that most U.S. Carriers were damaged or sunk by a Kamikaze push, leaving her as the only large fleet carrier in the Pacific. Reinforced in early 1949 by ships from the closing Atlantic Campaign, she was the crucial 'bait' in the Battle of the Japanese Sea. Heavily damaged in that engagement, her aircraft had to land on her newly repaired sister, Constellation, one of the rare occurrences of this. Repaired at Shanghai in Late 1949, she was put to sea and instantly sailed for the main fleet off the coast of Tokyo for the final land invasion of Japan. Her torpedo bombers were disembarked, and replaced with dive bombers. She also carried B-25s, as the initial bombing formation. On X-Day, January 3rd, 1950, Her aircraft assisted in Bombing of Beach Buick, and Beach Cadillac off the coast of Kyūshū. Cadillac went down as the bloodiest beach of the invasion, but Alliance aircraft later bombed "The hell out of anything that moved west of the sand." During this invasion, her fighters helped shoot down several kamikaze torpedo bomber squadrons, but her sister Constellation was sunk in shallow waters off Tokyo. Due to this, she sailed for the final invasion of Tokyo bay to replace her sister. After this, her aircraft helped with the Push for Tokyo, when Japan finally surrendered with Allied forces on the city limits of Tokyo. The Japan Instrument of Surrender was signed on her deck, June 24th, 1950. After the war, she was refitted in 1951, and served with the U.S. Navy until 2003, when she was retired as a museum ship to Pearl Harbor. She served in the Korean War, Vietnam, and Desert Storm, and had a collected a total of 27 battle stars.